Jefe Takes the Driver’s Seat on ‘The World Is Yours’ EP

The beginning of a new year brings the perfect opportunity for a rebirth or renewal in one's life or career, and the artist formerly known as Shy Glizzy is a testament to that adage. Officially changing his moniker from his original stage name to his alias Jefe at the top of 2017, the Washington D.C. representative is looking to raise his stock immensely with his latest EP, The World Is Yours. His first full-length release since unleashing his landmark Young Jefe 2 mixtape in July of 2016, as well as his first under the name Jefe, The World Is Yours continues the 2015 XXL Freshman's hot streak in grand fashion.

"I'm just a young nigga from the Southside/I'm rockin' with my niggas from the Northside," Jefe confesses on "Get Money 4Life," the bass-heavy opener, which finds him talking slick from the get. Sauntering over the staccato snare drums, Jefe separates himself from the postured trappers flooding the rap game, with lines like, "And I been getting money, since junior high school/Boy your school was private, couldn't go to my school" aimed directly at the artificial.

Rising spitter YoungBoy Never Broke Again rides shotgun on "Get Money 4Life," delivering a glowing verse, with gun talk to spare. Tackling the second verse on the track, the Louisiana native gets grizzly, rhyming, "Where I'm from gotta stay with that pistol/Bitch I just got off the phone with Glizzy/Touchdown in DC you know I ain't slippin'/Them boy quit playin' you know we gon' kill 'em."

With a reputation for cooking up brooding compositions over sinister soundscapes, Jefe makes sure to stick to the script on "Errywhere," one of the more addictive highlights from The World Is Yours. Having explained his name change was due in large part to his desire to fully occupy the driver's seat when it comes to his career, it's only right that Jefe revel in his position as a self-made boss. "They be like “ay Glizzy, why you still ain’t mainstream?”/I’m loyal to my niggas, bitch we got that same dream/Underground king, rest in peace to Pimp C/Bitch I am a boss, can’t let a nigga pimp me," he boasts, a reference to his deal with 300 Entertainment being in conjunction with his own Glizzy Gang imprint.

Powered by piano keys, synths, and claps, "Give It Up" is another offering from The World Is Yours that shines, and finds Jefe giving a summary of his rise from a criminal delinquent to a budding superstar. "Fourteen years old, I went to juvie for an O/Sixteen years old, I stuck my dick in my PO/Eighteen years old, I was whipping up the dope/By 20 years old I was getting 20 for a show," Jefe brags, before letting his brother and Glizzy Gang member 3 Glizzy catch wreck with an impressive showing of his own.

"How the fuck could you hate me/When I came up from nothing?" Jefe questions on "Love Me," his collaboration with Ralo, a plodding number which finds Jefe comparing himself to the character Tristan from the cult-classic flick Blue Hill Avenue, yet another nod to his Washington D.C. stomping grounds and his thuggish pedigree. Kash Doll makes an appearance on the hazy salvo "Over the Hills" and steals the show with a rewind-worthy performance, spouting off lethal couplets like, "'Cause you good with me if I'm good with you/Show these niggas how the real fuckin' bosses do/I'm a winner but I still take a loss with you/Cause you ain't just about word play nigga Langston Hughes."

Running eight-tracks deep and featuring production from the likes of Zaytoven, who contributes the project's lead single, "One," The World Is Yours is the artist formerly known as Glizzy continuing to make good on his potential and reasserting himself as the underground king of D.C. Not without blemish, as selections like "Take It Off" border on pedestrian and formulaic, however, The World Is Yours is a solid release that should make the transition from Glizzy to Jefe a seamless one.

See 40 Hip-Hop Albums Turning 20 in 2017